Universities have started demanding repayment of the full cost of education from students who underwent military training and refused to sign a contract with the Defense Ministry

Universities have started demanding repayment of the full cost of education from students who underwent military training and refused to sign a contract with the Defense Ministry

Verstka reports that since the start of the war in Ukraine, courts have considered at least 28 cases in different regions of Russia involving a student at a military training center (VUTs) refusing to sign a military contract or report to their duty station.

The lawsuits were filed by Far Eastern Federal University (FEFU), Ufa University of Science and Technology (UUST), the Bonch-Bruevich Saint Petersburg State University of Telecommunications, Pacific State Medical University, and other universities.

The educational institutions justified their claims by saying that before enrolling, the students had signed targeted education agreements with the Defense Ministry, under whose terms they were required to sign a military contract after graduation. In return, the universities paid for their studies. Such agreements were often signed long before the war, the outlet notes.

The sums being recovered range from several hundred thousand to more than one million rubles, depending on how many years the student studied.

At least two students managed to win their cases against the universities and the Defense Ministry. They convinced the courts that they had health problems.

🔵How to deal with the military enlistment office, how to obtain alternative civilian service, what students should prepare for, and how to appeal a draft decision — read the detailed instructions on the website of the Conscientious Objection project.

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